Someone asked John Mueller of Google if it is true that a statement off an SEO company's web site was legit. The statement basically said that links are critical with ranking in Google and you should only hire "Google-partner SEO agencies" to create such links. John Mueller said the statement "it's completely wrong."
Here is the statement shared with John Mueller on Twitter:
John was asked "By the way that agency is premier partner and I'm pretty sure they know that wording is very border line." John responded "It's not really borderline, it's completely wrong."
It's not really borderline, it's completely wrong.
— π John π (@JohnMu) December 22, 2018
There is no such thing as an SEO partner program from Google. They have Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Apps, etc but not for SEO.
I am sure you can Google the text above and find the article on this topic, it is obviously a huge red flag.
Forum discussion at Twitter.